The present invention relates to a fiber optic scanner which includes a light source or a receiving diode at one end and a fiber array at the other end.
Fiber optic scanners generally are optical-mechanical devices providing for a deflection of light beams. For example, the light information of one particular line deemed (or, better, made into a) scanning line can be converted or, better channeled into a sequence or series of light pulses for a glass fiber. The scanning proper may be carried out e.g. through a vibrating mirror or a rotating polygonal reflector. Both kinds are mechanical devices and are required to maintain very tight tolerances. It is usually inevitable in mechanically moved parts the mechanical motion as such poses certain limitations including e.g. imaging and scanning speed. Further to the state of the art, see German printed patent applications 33 32 402 and 37 02 330 and British patents 21 10 829 and 21 44 873.